A young Chinese man dressed casually in a T-shirt calls out for bids in rapid-fire Mandarin. In front of him is a large red fish, sitting atop a tray of ice. The man looks at his phone - secured on a tripod facing him - and asks for more bids before the allotted two minutes is up. He then moves to his next item.
But there are no actual customers in front of his booth.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Read the full story and more at $9.90/month
Get exclusive reports and insights with more than 500 subscriber-only articles every month
ST One Digital
$9.90/month
No contract
ST app access on 1 mobile device
Unlock these benefits
All subscriber-only content on ST app and straitstimes.com
Easy access any time via ST app on 1 mobile device
E-paper with 2-week archive so you won't miss out on content that matters to you
